Unlocking the Power of Mnemonics: Antique Points and Influential Points in Acupuncture
Unlocking the Power of Mnemonics: Antique Points and Influential Points in Acupuncture
Hello, everyone! Dr. Richard Lai here, welcoming you to our third episode of "Study Acupuncture with Me." Today, we’re diving deep into the world of mnemonics, focusing specifically on antique points and influential points in acupuncture. Whether you're preparing for your board exams or aiming to become the best acupuncturist, mnemonics can be an incredibly powerful tool to help you master the material.
Why Mnemonics Matter in Acupuncture
Mnemonics aren't just catchy phrases; they serve as mental shortcuts that transform complex information into something more digestible and memorable. As an acupuncturist, having a strong grasp of antique and influential points is crucial. These points play pivotal roles in treatment strategies, so understanding them thoroughly can elevate your practice to new heights.
A mnemonic I introduced today is "My Friends Are All Idiots." This mnemonic is tailored specifically to remember the Five Shu (five antique) points: Jing-Well, Ying-Spring, Shu-Stream, Jing-River, and He-Sea. Let’s break it down further:
**M** in "My" stands for **Mental issues or illness**, which are treated by Jing-Well points.
**F** in "Friends" stands for **Fever or febrile conditions**, typically addressed by Ying-Spring points.
**A** in "Are" denotes **Arthritis**, tackled using Shu-Stream points.
**A** in "All" signifies **Asthma**, a condition managed by Jing-River points.
**I** in "Idiots" stands for **Intestines**, focusing on the He-Sea points which are useful for gastrointestinal disorders.
The Jing-Well Points: Reviving Vitality
The Jing-Well points are the starting or terminal points of the energy channels in the body. Their primary role is to revive consciousness and treat issues related to mental disorders or emotional strife. Think of these points like the ignition key to a car, providing a burst of energy that can overcome stagnation and mental blockages.
Ying-Spring Points: Cooling Down the Fire
Next, we have the Ying-Spring points, which are essential in addressing heat in the body. Feverish conditions, inflammation, and various forms of internal heat are all within the purview of these points. If you've ever dealt with intense burning sensations or high fevers, you'll appreciate the cooling, soothing effect of these points.
Shu-Stream Points: Alleviating Heaviness
Shu-Stream points are often employed to deal with sensations of heaviness in the body and joint pain, including arthritis. Think of these points as the body's plumbing system, designed to ensure smooth and unimpeded energy flow, relieving the body of excess weight and arthritic pain.
Jing-River Points: Breathing Easy
The Jing-River points come into play when you're dealing with respiratory issues like asthma and coughs. These points help to clear blockages in the respiratory pathways, making it easier for your patients to breathe. Additionally, they are responsible for alleviating conditions that affect the voice, from hoarseness to outright loss of speech.
He-Sea Points: Digestive Harmony
Finally, the He-Sea points focus on the intestines and other conditions related to the digestive system. Whether it's diarrhea, rebellious stomach Qi, or various other gastrointestinal disorders, these points can bring a level of harmony and balance back to the body.
The Influential Points: Regulating and Harmonizing
Now, let's move on to another crucial aspect of acupuncture: the eight influential points. These points have a broad range of functions, from regulating the Zang-Fu organs to promoting blood circulation and harmonizing Qi.
Zang Organs: Liver 13
The influential point of the Zang organs is Liver 13. This point plays a critical role in maintaining the internal harmony among the solid organs, ensuring that they function optimally.
Fu Organs: Ren 12
Ren 12 serves as the influential point for the Fu organs. Located strategically, this point helps to manage and regulate the hollow organs like the stomach and intestines, making it invaluable in digestive health.
Qi: Ren 17
Ren 17 is the go-to influential point for Qi. This point is essential in maintaining and regulating the body's vital energy, helping to balance and distribute it effectively throughout the body.
Blood: UB 17
The influential point of blood is UB 17. This point supports the production and circulation of blood, ensuring that every part of the body receives the nutrients and oxygen it needs.
Sinews: Gallbladder 34
Gallbladder 34 is the influential point for the sinews, making it critical for maintaining the health of muscles and tendons. Whether you’re dealing with strains, sprains, or general muscle fatigue, this point can offer significant relief.
Marrow: Gallbladder 39
The influential point for marrow is Gallbladder 39. This point supports the health of the bone marrow, which is crucial for blood production and overall vitality.
Bones: UB 11
UB 11 is the influential point for bones. It plays a vital role in maintaining bone health, making it incredibly useful in conditions like osteoporosis and arthritis.
Vessels: Lung 9
Lastly, Lung 9 is the influential point for the vessels. This point helps to regulate the blood vessels, ensuring smooth and efficient circulation throughout the body.
Mnemonic for Influential Points: Zong Farted Chi and Blood, So Mary Barfed Violently
To make it easier to remember the influential points, I’ve come up with a fun mnemonic: “Zong farted Chi and Blood, so Mary barfed violently. Larry ran underground until Labor Day.”
#### Breaking Down the Mnemonic
1. **Zong** - Liver 13 (influential for the Zang organs)
2. **Farted** - Ren 12 (influential for the Fu organs)
3. **Chi** - Ren 17 (influential for Qi)
4. **Blood** - UB 17 (influential for Blood)
5. **So** - Gallbladder 34 (influential for Sinews)
6. **Mary** - Gallbladder 39 (influential for Marrow)
7. **Barfed** - UB 11 (influential for Bones)
8. **Violently** - Lung 9 (influential for Vessels)
By breaking down these points and their mnemonic associations, we can turn what initially seems like an overwhelming amount of information into something surprisingly simple to recall.
LET'S SUMMARIZE
Acupuncture is an ancient art that demands precision and deep understanding. Utilizing mnemonics like "My Friends Are All Idiots" and "Zong Farted Chi and Blood, So Mary Barfed Violently" allows you to break down these complex concepts into manageable chunks. By consistently investing your time and energy in learning and practicing these mnemonics, you'll find that you're not only ready to pass your board exams but also prepared to offer the most effective treatments to your future patients.
If today's episode boosts your confidence in mastering mnemonics for acupuncture points, I encourage you to share this episode with friends or fellow students. And please, leave a review on Apple Podcasts; it helps tremendously.
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:00:53]:
I like to start off every episode with either a quote or, like, a story from my personal and professional life that's benefited me in one way or another. I hope that this episode finds you well and finds you in a positive way, and I hope that it helps you wherever you are in life right now. Whether you're in a low or in a high, don't give up. Just keep going. So today's quote comes from Robert Downey junior. He always asks himself himself before he does anything, before he goes on set, before he starts acting. He always asks himself, what is your action? And what he means by this is he enters every single day with intention and he enters every single thing with intention he has action and intention And this made me realize that in order to reach goals and milestones in my life, I needed to go through each day of the week with a certain intention and plan.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:01:49]:
Like a simple example is if I wanted to save $1,000 in my savings account I have to set the intention to save $1,000 So then every action that I do has to be towards that. So like buying Starbucks coffee every single morning, that's not really gonna help getting to that $1,000. How about if I set aside $100 every time I get a paycheck? I just put it aside. I don't even touch it. Then 10 paychecks later, I'm gonna save $1,000. But if I keep doing other things that negate that, like buying clothes or, you know, going to the movies, whatever it is. All that's going to eat away and waste more time and prevent me from getting to that $1,000 sooner. Another example is, like, we all want to look good in that swimsuit.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:02:39]:
Right? We want to look good in that bikini by summer. So we have to build that intention into the week. Right? So which days of the week are you gonna do an exercise video? Right? YouTube has a ton of free exercise videos. So are you gonna do exercise videos 3 times a week? Which days of the week? Monday, Wednesday, Friday? Alright. Make that decision. Do this consistently. Stick to it. Hold yourself accountable.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:03:04]:
Right? Only doing this consistently is gonna reach help you reach your goals. The key is that every day you have to decide to just keep doing it. So anyway, why do I mention these? Because, first of all, I love Robert Downey Junior, because around the time that the first Iron Man came out, I was in a really low point in my life. At that point, like, I made really terrible decisions. I had no priorities in life. I was a loser. You know, I had no job. You know, girlfriend dumped me.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:03:37]:
I was late on everything. Late on all my payments. Late on everything. Nothing was going right. And my friends took me to see Iron Man, and there was just something about the way that Robert Downey Junior portrayed Tony Stark. Right? Tony Stark. Right? He's a genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist, and there was, you know, in the beginning of the movie, he's dying. Right? And there's, like, shrapnel that's, like, entering his heart.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:04:02]:
And he had to use in a cave where there's limited resources, he used his smarts and his hard work to get him out of the situation, and he looked really badass doing it as well. And it and it made me realize, like, during the movie and after, like, my potential in life. Right? It made me realize, like, I never consistently focused on anything that bettered my life. You know, I had no intentions. I was just chasing at whatever was fun for me. Right? But Tony Stark, on the other hand, he worked hard. We didn't see the journey, and it I'm sure that it took a long time to him for him to get that smart and that witty and that successful. Right? So I I realized at that point I needed to make healthy decisions every single day and sooner or later I would get to that point too.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:04:48]:
One more quote I wanna share with you before we begin is from Benjamin Franklin. He said, by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. So by listening to this podcast, first of all, thank you. 2nd of all, you should be really proud of yourself right now because by listening to this podcast, you're investing your time instead of spending or wasting your time. You know, like right now as you're listening to me, you're probably in the gym or you're driving your car or you're walking around. You're investing your time to expose yourself to more acupuncture content. Right? So the road that you're on leads to not only passing the board exam but also leads to being the best acupuncturist out there. So while your friends are out there drinking, binging Netflix, you're working.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:05:33]:
You're getting smarter. And this makes you a smart person. And it makes all your friends who aren't preparing idiots. So in fact right now I want you to say it with me my friends are all idiots See the so that's actually the mnemonic that I wanna share with you for the shoe points. So there's 5 antique points. Right? There's 5 shoe points. And what are they? They are the Jing well, the Ying spring, the Shoe stream, the Jing river, and He Si. So what does your idiot friends have to do with this? The mnemonic is my friends are all idiots.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:06:10]:
It's 5 letters. M is the first. Right? So m is the first point which is the Jing well. So remember that the Jing well restores consciousness, and it treats fullness below the heart. Right? So it treats mental issues or treats mania. Right? Right? So there's your m, mental issues or mental illness. Friends. Friends is the f and that's your ying spring point.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:06:36]:
Ying spring points treat heat in the body. So f stands for fever or febrile conditions. It treats heat. Next is r. My friends r. This stands for arthritis. The shoe stream point is our 3rd antique point. It treats heaviness in the body, right, or painful joint conditions just like arthritis.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:06:58]:
Next one is all. My friends are all. This is the Jing River. This stands for asthma. The a here stands for asthma because the Jing River point will treat issues related to things in that category. You know, it'll treat asthma, cough. You know, with cough, your patient might feel, like, hot or cold. And then, like, another classical indication for the Jing River is that there's voice sound changes.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:07:23]:
And then lastly you have idiots which categorically stands for intestines so that's the he see point Right? So here you got your indications for diarrhea, you know, and other disorders of the stomach, like rebellious stomach chi that, you know, he c points would really be helpful for. So my friends are all idiots. Another mnemonic I wanna share with you is about the 8 influential points of the body. So what do the 8 influential points of the body do? A lot of different things, right? They regulate the zongfu, they promote circulation, they regulate chi, regulate blood, sinews, marrow, right? So we have the influential point of the zong organs, which is Liver 13. We have the influential point of the Fu organs which is Ren 12. We have the influential point of chi which is ren17. We have the influential point of blood which is u b 17. Next, we have the influential point of the sinews, which is gallbladder 34.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:08:34]:
Then we have the influential point of marrow, which is gallbladder 39. Then we have the influential point of the bones, which is urinary bladder 11, which 11 looks like 2 bones, so that's an easy way to remember it. And then lastly, we have the influential point of the vessels, the source point of the lung, Lung 9. So the mnemonic is Zong farted chi and blood. So Mary barfed violently. Then it goes on Larry ran underground until Labor Day. So if you're driving do this later. If you're sitting take out a pen and paper write down what I'm about to tell you.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:09:18]:
So in one column on the leftmost side, write down zongfuqi blood sinews marrow bones vessels. So the the mnemonic is Zong farted, Chi in blood, so Mary barfed violently. In the next column, write liver, ren, ren, u b, g b, g b, u b, and lung. So read the mnemonic again. Zong farted chi in blood, so Mary barfed violently. Larry ran underground until Labor Day. So that's the liver, Ren, Ren, Urinary Bladder, that's the under, then Ground, Gallbladder, Gallbladder until Labor Day. Urinary Bladder and then Lung.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:10:17]:
So the last column now, you have your numbers. So if we write down the numbers in 2 sets of 4, it's easier to memorize. So write these down and note the pattern. 13, 12, 17, 17. 34, 39, 11, then 9. So memorizing 2 sets of four numbers isn't that hard, right, especially when you have silly memorization for the first part. Alright. So this brings us to the end of episode 3.
Dr. Richard Lai DPT LAc [00:10:49]:
I just wanted to leave you quickly with these 2 mnemonics so that with this background, the next episode will just be that much more useful to you. And I'm gonna leave infographics of these on our website, www.studyacu with me.com. And if you really got something out of today's episode and you feel more confident with the material, it would just really mean the world to me if you shared that gift, that feeling with a friend. Share this episode on your Instagram, your Facebook, Lastly, I also wanna ask you, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It would really help a lot. As always, you can always reach out to me on any of the social media outlets. Find me on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and be sure to check out the website www.studyacu with me.com for the latest study guides and acupuncture related content. Until next time, God bless, and happy studying.
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